[cobirds] Re: Mystery birds and juv Horned Larks

Your note solved another identification mystery for me.  I was birding last week in snow-covered SE Wyoming.  There were many birds sitting on the back roads because of the snow (and it was hard to pull off the road to get a good look at them). The majority were small brown sparrow-like birds with markings on the breast.  I first thought they must be female Chestnut-collared Longspurs, but then began to wonder why I wasn't seeing any colorful males amongst them.  I watched the birds on the road fly, but most didn't seem to have any white on the tail (and the ones that did turned out to be Vesper Sparrows).  It never crossed my mind that there might be juvenile birds in mid-May (especially since it looked more like February).  Thanks for the very helpful note and reference.

On Sat, May 27, 2017 at 5:02 PM, Joe Roller <jroller9@gmail.com> wrote:

Before too many birders rush out to the Pawnee to hunt for Sprague's Pipits, consider

studying how very similar in appearance are juvy Horned Larks. The photo I saw on eBird 

was of a juvenile Horned Lark. 

Tony Leukering wrote a great photo article explaining the differences.  https://cobirds.org/CFO/ColoradoBirds/InTheScope/28.pdf

Sprague's Pipits are unheard of in spring in CO; they're hard enough to find in the fall. By contrast  juvy Horned Larks abound

on the Pawnee this week.

Joe Roller, Denver

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Dick Pautsch

427 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

rjpautsch@gmail.com

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